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Since Anker launched its Nebula line of projectors, it’s built up a solid roster of portable projectors, budget projectors, affordable 4K projectors and even some of the best outdoor projectors. What it hasn’t done is attack the mid-range market like XGIMI – but that all changes with the new Anker Nebula X1, which in a way is the culmination of Nebula’s work so far.
In typical Nebula style, it’s not so much an attempt to compete in the market as an attempt to disrupt it with something new: a flexible, high-performance 4K laser projector with a few ideas you won’t have seen before.
I’ve had the chance to go eyes-on with the X1 at an exclusive London event, and it has the potential to be both unusual and extremely cool.
Anker Nebula X1: Key specifications, UK price and release date
| Optical engine | Tri-colour laser optical engine, mounted on a 25-degree internal micro gimbal |
| Brightness | 3,500 ANSI lumens |
| Contrast | 5,000:1 native (56,000:1 dynamic) |
| Throw ratio | 0.9 to 1.5:1 |
| Lens | 14-element, all-glass |
| Audio standards support | Dolby Vision |
| Speakers | Built-in 2 x 5W and 2 x 2.5W drivers |
| Accessories | Optional 2 x 40W and 4 x 20W wireless satellite speaker set |
| Software | Integrated Google TV |
| Price | £2,200 (projector); £500 (accessory pack); £2,350 (limited edition bundle) |
| Release date | 21 May, 2025 |
Key features and first impressions
First, let’s talk about Nebula’s new tech. The X1 combines an all-new, U-shaped triple laser engine with a 6-blade f/2.0-4.5 iris and an all-glass 14-element zoom lens array. Each is a Nebula first, and all-glass optical systems are far from ordinary in home cinema projectors.
What’s more, the lens and engine are mounted on an internal micro gimbal, giving you more freedom over the projector’s vertical positioning. The motorised optical zoom can get you a 200in image from 4m away or a more living-room sized 100in screen from just under 2m.
Nebula claims a maximum brightness of 3,500 ANSI lumens and a 5,000:1 native contrast ratio, while the NebulaMaster processing engine promises a wide colour gamut, pro-level colour accuracy and Dolby Vision HDR. Not only does it have Dolby Vision certification, but also certification for its colour performance from the Image Science Foundation (ISF) and the German/Austrian TÜV. Anker claims 110% coverage of the Rec.2020 gamut color space, which goes beyond DCI-P3.
This compact 4K projector also looks extremely easy to set up. It uses an enhanced version of Nebula’s AI-powered Spatial Adaptation system to deliver continuous, real-time auto focus and keystone correction, with ambient light and wall-colour adaptation plus automatic obstacle avoidance.
Basically, you can plonk this projector down in front of the screen, and the zoom, gimbal and AI image-processing will do their best to get you a perfectly aligned and focused image, optimised for the current conditions. It will even remember different rooms or scenes and recall its last settings if it’s returned to a specific space. It’s designed to be the projector you can use outdoors in the summer but quickly move back into the living room should the weather not play ball.
There’s even more innovation on the sound front. The projector itself has four side-firing internal speakers, with two 15W woofers and two 5W tweeters, plus two passive radiators. This on its own should be enough for casual movie nights and everyday TV and gaming. However, you can also buy the X1 bundled with a carry case and two wireless satellite speakers, connecting losslessly to the projector via Wi-Fi.
These IP54 dust and water-resistant units are battery-powered and recharged through USB-C and include two front drivers with a 40W amplifier, as well as upward and side-firing drivers, each powered with an additional 20W.
Power these on and the onboard speakers are deployed to handle the low frequencies, while the satellites handle music, dialogue and surround effects. If you’re looking for a system that can deliver real home cinema both in the living room and outdoors, Nebula’s bundle could be exactly what you’re looking for.
Weirdly, the accessory kit also includes two wireless microphones for karaoke. For the sake of your neighbours, I’d advise you don’t try this out outside.
Nebula has even put thought into how you cool all of this without making too much intrusive noise. A custom-designed liquid cooling system – another claimed industry first – does the job, producing less than 26dB at a distance of one metre.
It’s an interesting concept, and from my quick look at the hardware on display, both projectors and speakers appear to be built with Nebula’s usual rock-solid construction, albeit without the design flare we’ve seen from Epson or XGIMI on some recent models. But what about the audio and video quality?
Well, Anker boldly showed the X1 off in a London screening room on a screen significantly larger than anything you’d find in your average UK home. What’s more, there was low-level ambient lighting throughout our demo, rather than traditional near-dark home cinema conditions.
So, you can trust me when I say that I was genuinely impressed with how sharp, bright and colour rich the image was, with spectacular detail reproduction. In truth, the presentation may even have been a little too vibrant, so it’ll be interesting to see how much you can adjust it with picture modes and tone or colour settings. Generally speaking, it’s a whole lot easier to tone down a vivid image than it is to jazz up a somewhat dull one.
And while the sound in that space didn’t deliver the kind of boom and rumble you’d get in the pricey cinemas of nearby Leicester Square, it appeared to be clear, beefy and pretty wide, even positioning some fairly convincing surround effects around the room. The kit might not have home cinema enthusiasts junking their 5.1 or 7.1 setups, but it’s definitely a big step up from the internal sound systems found within the Nebula X1’s rivals.
Nebula X1 hands-on preview: Early verdict
I’m intrigued to get those wireless speakers up and running in my own home, to see exactly what they can do. In fact, that goes for the X1 as a whole. Is this a new benchmark for Nebula projectors? We’ll find out with the full review, but on first impressions it looks and sounds like serious competition for the XGIMI Horizon series and even some larger home cinema projectors. In fact, it’s going to be exciting to see how Anker’s more disruptive ideas pan out both indoors and outside.
At £2,200 for the projector and an extra £500 for the accessory kit, the Nebula X1 doesn’t come as cheap as Anker’s Mars or Cosmos models, but this could be the ambitious mid-range play that puts Nebula in a different league.
